Getting Started with Azure API Management

Azure API Management is a powerful tool for managing APIs, and getting started with it can seem overwhelming.

First, you need to sign up for an Azure account, which can be done in just a few minutes.

To create an API, you'll need to create an API Management instance, which can be done through the Azure portal.

Next, you'll need to create a new API in your instance, which involves defining the API's metadata, such as its name, description, and tags.

Azure API Management supports multiple protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, and WebSocket.

Azure API Management is a fully managed service that helps developers expose their APIs securely to external and internal customers.

It provides a set of tools and services for creating, publishing, and managing APIs, which is essential for building and managing APIs in a secure and scalable way.

API management includes a range of features and tools, such as an API gateway, a web-based developer portal, and API lifecycle management.

These features help developers to securely expose their APIs, enforce security, and scale API usage.

Azure API Management can be used with a variety of back-end services, including Azure Functions, Azure Logic Apps, and Azure Virtual Machines.

It can also be used with on-premises and third-party systems, making it a versatile solution for developers.

Azure API Management provides monitoring and analytics tools to help developers understand API usage and performance.

This information is crucial for making data-driven decisions and improving the overall API experience.

Azure API Management is made up of three main components: an API gateway, a management plane, and a developer portal. These components are Azure-hosted and fully managed by default.

Each of these components plays a crucial role in managing APIs, and they're available in various tiers that differ in capacity and features.

Azure API Management is made up of three main components: an API gateway, a management plane, and a developer portal. These components are Azure-hosted and fully managed by default.

The API gateway is the entry point for API requests, and it's responsible for routing and managing the traffic.

Azure API Management is available in various tiers, differing in capacity and features.

The gateway is the first point of contact for client applications, and it's responsible for forwarding requests to the respective backend services. It acts as a facade to the backend services, allowing API providers to abstract API implementations and evolve backend architecture without impacting API consumers.

The API gateway verifies API keys and other credentials such as JWT tokens and certificates presented with requests. It also enforces usage quotas and rate limits.

Here are some key features of the API gateway:

The self-hosted gateway is a Linux-based Docker container that can be deployed to Kubernetes, including Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes. This allows customers to deploy the API gateway to the same environments where they host their APIs.

The developer portal is a game-changer for application developers. It's an automatically generated, fully customizable website with the documentation of your APIs.

Developers can customize the look and feel of the developer portal by adding custom content, customizing styles, and adding their branding. They can extend it further by self-hosting.

The developer portal offers a range of features, including:

API Management also provides a convenient way for developers to subscribe to products and get granted primary and secondary keys for use when calling the product's APIs. This makes it easy for them to get started with using APIs in their applications.

Azure API Management provides a layer between API clients and back-end API services, acting as a gatekeeper to enforce security policies and rate limiting.

This layer is crucial in ensuring that only authorized requests are made to the back-end API services.

The API Management gateway is the first point of contact for client requests, where it's determined whether the request is allowed to proceed.

If the request is approved, it's forwarded to the back-end API service for processing.

The back-end API service then sends the response back to the API Management gateway, which relays it to the client.

This process ensures that API clients are insulated from the complexities of back-end API services, making it easier for developers to build and manage APIs.

By providing a secure and controlled environment, Azure API Management helps developers focus on building great user experiences.

As an application developer, you're likely no stranger to the importance of having easy access to API documentation. The developer portal provides detailed documentation for each API, including information about the API endpoint, operations, request and response formats, and required parameters or headers.

With this documentation, you can understand how to use the API and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. The developer portal's interactive console also allows you to test APIs by sending test requests and viewing responses.

API Management includes tools for monitoring and analyzing API usage, performance, and errors. You can use these tools to track usage, identify performance issues, and collect and analyze usage data.

Developers can access analytics on their own usage through the developer portal, giving them a clear understanding of how their APIs are being used.

Here are some benefits of using the developer portal for application developers:

APIs are the foundation of a great developer experience. They provide a set of operations available to app developers, which map to backend operations.

Each API contains a reference to the backend service that implements it. This connection is crucial for a seamless experience.

APIs in API Management are highly configurable. You can control URL mapping, query and path parameters, request and response content, and operation response caching.

To get started, import and publish your first API. This will give you a feel for how APIs work in API Management.

You can also mock API responses to test your app's behavior. This feature is especially useful during development.

Here are some key features to keep in mind when working with APIs in API Management:

Products in API Management are collections of APIs. You can create and publish a product to make it easier for developers to access your APIs.

Subscriptions in API Management allow developers to access your APIs. You can configure subscription settings to control access to your APIs.

APIs in API Management are highly configurable. You can control URL mapping, query and path parameters, request and response content, and operation response caching.

To set up Azure API Management, you'll first need to create an instance of the service in Azure. This involves selecting Create a resource, then Web > API Management, and providing configuration variables such as name, subscription, resource group, location, organization name, administrator email, and pricing tier.

The pricing tier you choose determines the number of calls you can make to your API and the maximum amount of data transfer allowed. You must opt for the Developer plan or higher for this integration to work.

To integrate your API with Azure API Management, you'll need to configure the integration in SwaggerHub. This involves selecting the API you want to push to Azure API Management, unpublishing it if it's already published, and clicking Add New Integrations to select Azure API Management from the list of integrations.

API Management is offered in three main tiers: Classic, V2, and Consumption. Each tier has its own set of features and pricing.

The Classic tier includes the Developer, Basic, Standard, and Premium tiers, with the Premium tier offering high scalability and enhanced security features. The Developer tier is an economical option for non-production use.

The V2 tier offers fast provisioning and scaling, with three options: Basic v2 for development and testing, and Standard v2 and Premium v2 for production workloads. Standard v2 and Premium v2 support virtual network integration for simplified connection to network-isolated backends.

The Consumption tier is a serverless gateway that scales based on demand and is billed per execution, making it ideal for applications with variable traffic patterns.

Here's a breakdown of the main features of each tier:

To choose the right tier for your API Management needs, consider the level of scalability and security you require, as well as your budget and application architecture.

Groups in API Management are used to manage visibility and access to products for developers. They help determine what developers can see and do within the developer portal.

API Management has two built-in groups for developers: Developers and Guests. Developers are authenticated users who build applications using APIs, while Guests are unauthenticated users who can view APIs but not call them.

Developers can belong to more than one group, allowing for flexible access control. This is useful for managing access to specific subsets of APIs within a product.

Here's a breakdown of the built-in groups:

API Management service owners can also create custom groups or use external groups in an associated Microsoft Entra tenant to give developers more flexibility in accessing API products.

Workspaces are a key feature that allows decentralized API development teams to manage and productize their own APIs.

Each workspace contains APIs, products, subscriptions, and related entities that are accessible only to the workspace collaborators.

Access is controlled through Azure role-based access control (RBAC), ensuring that sensitive information is protected.

A workspace gateway routes API traffic to its backend services, making it a crucial component of the workspace setup.

Each workspace is associated with a workspace gateway, which plays a vital role in managing API traffic.

Policies are a powerful tool in Azure API Management that allow you to change the behavior of an API through configuration. They can be applied at different scopes, depending on your needs, such as global, workspace, product, API, or API operation.

Policy expressions can be used as attribute values or text values in any of the API Management policies, unless the policy specifies otherwise. Some policies, like Control flow and Set variable policies, are based on policy expressions.

You can transform and protect your API using policies, which can be a game-changer for API security and management.

Here are some popular policy statements:

These statements can be used to fine-tune your API's behavior and make it more robust.

To register an application in Azure, you need to create an application in Azure AD that will be used to authorize the connection to Azure.

You'll need to register an application in Azure AD that will be used to authorize the connection to Azure.

This is a requirement for pushing API definitions from SwaggerHub On-Premise to Azure.

The application's client ID and secret need to be specified in the SwaggerHub On-Premise Admin Center.

Applies to OpenAPI 2.0 definitions in SwaggerHub On-Premise versions before 1.21.0.

Creating an Azure API Management Service is a straightforward process. You'll need to create an instance in Azure to manage your API.

To start, select Create a resource in the navigation bar. From there, choose Web > API Management. You'll be redirected to a page where you can provide the necessary configuration variables.

The configuration variables include Name, Subscription, Resource group, Location, Organization name, Administrator email, and Pricing tier. Make sure to choose the Developer plan or higher, as the Consumption plan doesn't offer sufficient functionality.

Here's a breakdown of the required configuration variables:

Once you've filled in the necessary information, select Create to begin provisioning your service. This may take up to 15 minutes to complete.